The Portuguese designer of a board game called Trench has spoken out on a trademark dispute that has prevented Double Fine's Trenched from being released in European territories.
The Portuguese designer of a board game called Trench has spoken out on a trademark dispute that has prevented Double Fine's Trenched from being released in European territories. In a statement given to Eurogamer through company Criacoes a Solo, Trench designer Rui Alipio Monteiro points out his ownership of European and U.S. trademarks for his title as both a board game and an electronic game, the latter of which is currently in development. "[Microsoft], until the present date, has never contacted nor has any relation with Rui Alipio Monteiro," the statement reads, in part. "'Criacoes a Solo' and Rui Alipio Monteiro, taking into account all investment already made, cannot do anything else but to obviously defend all their author's copyright and intellectual property against any infringements, as any designer would..." Both the Trench board game and Trenched deal with military strategy and themes during the World War I era, although Double Fine's Trenched is a comical, alternate history take on the period that pits giant mechs versus electrical beasts. Barring a name change, any legal wrangling over the trademark could lead to a long delay in any European release. Although the board game maker said he owns the U.S. trademark for Trench, Trenched was released in the U.S. on June 22. Previously, Microsoft cited "unexpected challenges with distribution" in pushing back a planned European XBLA release. Neither Microsoft nor Double Fine has remarked further on the European release issues.
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